1 A kidnapping in broad daylight
A man in the sixties was kidnapped this Thursday, around 10:30 a.m. in the 14th arrondissement, in Paris, said the Paris prosecutor’s office this Saturday. According to a police source, the action had been carried out before witnesses by four hooded men who had taken him aboard a delivery van.
The victim’s wife, heard by the police, said that her husband and her son, who have a marketing company managing Cryptomone in Malta, had been the subject of threats in the past, according to the police source.
2 A huge ransom
“The victim turned out to be the father of a man who made a fortune in the cryptocurrencies, the facts being accompanied by a ransom application,” said the prosecution, without specifying the amount.
According to the newspaper Le Parisien, “the criminals would have claimed between 5 to 7 million euros in the form of transfers in exchange for his release”.
A source close to the file told AFP that a “very high” sum had been claimed by the captors but had not been paid.
3 A liberation following an “extraordinary” survey
The “numerous investigations” carried out allowed the release this Saturday around 9 pm of “the victim chosen in a housing located in Essonne,” said the prosecution.
The hostage was released during an assault on the research and intervention brigade (BRI) in the pavilion where the man was kidnapped, reported the near source.
The place where he was selected was located thanks to an “extraordinary investigation”, “anthology”, underlined this source.
“A huge congratulations to the investigators who did an exceptional job to release this man and to arrest his captors,” reacted on X Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, welcoming the “decisive commitment” of the prefect of police Laurent Nuñez and his workforce.
4 A sectioned finger
Wounded, the man was taken care of by the emergency services. According to the source close to the file, the man had a cut finger. “Other mutilations were to be feared” if the police had not intervened.
-5 five arrests
During this intervention, four suspects born in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005, “were arrested, in or near the accommodation where the victim was sequestrated,” said the prosecution.
A fifth, born in 1999, “was arrested behind the wheel of one of the vehicles probably used by criminals,” he completed. They were placed in police custody.
An investigation was opened for arrest, kidnapping, sequestration and arbitrary hostage to obtain the execution of an order or a condition, extortion with a weapon, all in an organized gang, and participation in an association of criminal criminals.
The Brigade for the repression of banditry (BRB) and the judicial police are responsible for investigations.
According to the source close to the investigation, the cybercrime (BL2C) and the BRI was also mobilized in this survey.
6 previous
This abduction followed by sequestration with ransom request in cryptocurrency comes just over three months after the abductor of the co -founder of Ledger, a company specializing in cryptoactives.
On January 21, in the early morning, David Balland and his partner had been kidnapped at their home in Méreau (Cher). The alert had been given by Éric Larchevêque, co -founder of Ledger, who had received a video of a cut finger from David Balland, accompanied by a major ransom request in cryptocurrency.
Releasing in Châteauroux, David Balland was released on January 22. His partner was found tied up in the trunk of a vehicle in Essonne the next day.
At least nine suspects have been indicted in this case, including the alleged sponsor of this abduction.
In addition, in early January, a 56 -year -old man was found in the trunk of a car near Le Mans, several hundred kilometers from his home located in the Ain. According to several media, it was the father of an influencer in cryptocurrencies based in Dubai, who regularly publishes videos on his earnings, and a ransom request had been made.
